Refuse-destructor



2 E M O S N ,A R L un REFUSE DESTRUGTOR.

Patented Sept. l0, 1 895.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. L. RANSOME. REFUSE DBSTRUGTOR.

No. 545,975. Patented Sept. 10, 1895.

FFIGF@ ERNST LESLIE'RANSOME, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REFUSEMDESTRUCTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 545,975, datedSeptember 10, 1895. Application ied October 10, 1894:. Serial No.525,530. (No model.)

To all whom it may concer-m Beit known that I, ERNEST rLESLIE RAN- sOME,a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refuse-Destructors; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a clear, exact, and full description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of furnaces known asrefuse-destructors, and is for the purpose of automatically breaking upand discharging the clinkers and ashes produced therein.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure lis a vertical section of my improved furnace.Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the discharge-openings. Fig. 3 isa side elevation of one of the vertical beams in part, showing some ofthe cross-beams in section. Fig. 4 is an elevation of two vertical beamsin part and their connections as viewed from the inside of the furnace.Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the eccentric, showing position of sweep; andFig. 6 is a detail of the sweep.

The furnaces to which I prefer to apply my improvements are circular onplan and coutinuous in operation. They have tall solid walls and whenworking contain a great mass of burned matter. They are driven by anair-blast and are of the type described by me in Letters Patent Nos.524,687 and 524,688, both dated August 14, 1894. In burning refuse insuch a furnace enormous clinkers are frequently formed, such as defy allordinary methods of removal. At other times, owing either to thechangeable character of the ref-l use or to the lower temperature atwhich it has been burned, smaller clinkers and an abundance of dust andashes are formed. A successful apparatus for the removal of thismaterial inust'be capable of handling it under all the varied conditionsin which it is present. Such an apparatus was invented and patented byme under Letters Patent No. 524,688, of August 14, 1894; but adifficulty exists in applying this patented invention to furnaces beyondten feet in diameter-wiz., the construction aud operation of a revolvinggrate of sufficient strength to endure the strain to which it would besubjected in breaking up -one of the enormous clinkers that are liableto come upon it.

By my present invention I overcome this` difficulty by dispensing withthe grate and its auxiliaries and substituting the following:`

Upon the bottom of the furnace or hearth A a traveling discharger Brests loosely. It is moved eccentrically by eccentric O, which fits andworks within it. This eccentric is carried upon bearing D, and it isdriven by pin ion E, power being furnished through shaft F. Thehearth,by preference, slopes down wardly from within the circular area alwayscovered by the base of the discharger to the beams G, as shown at A. Hisachannel for the reception of such ashes as may creep in between thedischarger and hearth in the working of the latter. This ash is sweptont of the channel by the sweep II into the subway I, through which itfalls into chamber N, from which it is removed at intervals.. The wallsof the furnace K rest upon a series of vertical beams G, which arestrongly embedded into or attached to the hearth. To the vertical beamsG are attached horizontal beams G. All these beams are by preferencefitted with cuttingedges ou their interior faces, as at G2. Surroundingthe hearth A is a circular traveler L.` This may be of any suitableknown variety.

The furnace is operated as follows: Clinkers are placed inside thefurnace until the desired height for the fire is reached, when the fireis lighted, or the fire is started upon the hearth and fed until it hasburned upward to the desired height, say, at M. The air-blast is forcedinto furnace-chamber O, which is an air-tight chamber surrounding theworking apparatus described herein, and finds its way upward tothe fireby passing between beams G and G and through the mass of interveningclinkers. As soon as the tire is burning normally at the proper level itis kept well supplied with fuel from above through feedpipe N andmaintained at the right height by the regulated withdrawal from below ofthe clinkers and ashes upon which it rests. This column of clinkers andashes supporting the re rests upon the hearth and discharger and IDOtheir withdrawal or discharge is accomplished as follows: Being set inmotion by the eccentric C,the dischargerB in its eccentric movementthruststhe clinkers and ashes outwardly, thereby breaking up the largeclinker-bodies and crushing the mass against the beams G and G anddrivinga portion thereof through the openings between them. Thisdischarge 'is continuous while the motion of the disi charger B ismaintained, for as fast as a portion of the contents of the furnace isthus discharged the mass of clinker and ashes descending by gravityfollows on behind and supplies the place of that which has beendischarged. The material discharged falls into the circular conveyer Land is delivered therefrom at any desirable point by any of the usualmethods. The discharger B is by preference conical or pyramidical. Thesides thereof may be smooth, roughened, toothed, or stepped. Instead ofmoving it eccentri4 cally it may be made of irregular perimeter, oblong,oval, or triangular on plan and be driven eccentrically or with agyratory or reciprocal movement; but such alternatives are not sodesirable as the method described in full. By extending the hearth outfarther, so as to give footing to the extended angle of repose of theashes that would be occasioned by the removal of the cross-beams G', thelatter could be omitted in cases where/the increased size of the lumpsdischarged, due to lsuch omission, would not' be objectionable.

By sloping the hearth less power is required for the discharge; but incases where economy in heightis of more importance than economy of powerthis slope can be omitted.

Disclaiming any rights to the use of the airtight blast-chamber O, sofar as this present invention is concerned,

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In combination with a conical discharger mounted upon and operated byan eccentric, a surrounding cage consisting of vertical and horizontalbars against which the said discharger crushes large clinkers andbetween which it forces smaller pieces and ashes.

2. In a refuse burning furnace, a hearth over the top of which clinkersare crushed and discharged from said furnace; a central chamber withinsaid hearth for providing space within which is placed the supportingand driving mechanism for the Crusher, a channel in the upper face ofsaid hearth and surrounding said central opening for catching dust andashes, and a sweep operated by the driving mechanism for dischargingaccumulations from said channel into a subway beneath.

ERNEST LESLIE RANSQME.

Witnesses:

S. FEED. Hown, LILLIAN GRAY.

